What Can Content Do for Your Dealership?

Consumers shop for a car for about 22 days from evaluation to purchase according to autoTrader’s keystone study, 25% of this time is spent researching and deciding, which equates to about 5 whole days of research.

That’s a staggering statistic. And it’s one that has implications for two groups of car buyers in particular.

Women, for one, are drawn to online research—and since they influence up to 85% of car purchases, you need to be meeting them where they are. Tech-savvy millennials, too, spend more time online than other buying groups.

Therefore, it may be time to divert more of your budget and resources to creating content for your website and social media channels.

Here is what content can accomplish:

Highlight what inventory you have available. Everything should funnel the customer toward your vehicle description pages (VDPs). 39% of car buyers already know what they want—they simply need to know you have it. You can also highlight the other parts of your business through content—your parts, service, and accessories departments.

Show them what kind of experience they will have in-store. Consumers say they’ll pay more to have a good experience—this is where you could show your transparency or attention to detail.

Call a consumer to action. It’s called a “call to action (CTA)”, and every piece of content needs to have one. You want the customer to have an opportunity to reach out to you, giving you a chance to meet their needs. That’s the whole purpose of your online content and digital marketing strategy.

Provide content that is:

Valuable

Valuable content does two things: it keeps them engaged on your site longer, and it builds authority and trust with the customer before they ever visit your store.

Easily digestible

Your content has to be reader-friendly. Give visitors articles that are relevant and helpful—car reviews, vehicle technology and feature how-to’s. They can even highlight your sales team and start building rapport with the consumer.

Social

Car shoppers are all over social media.

That means your strategy should include content that works on social media. Between Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, there are thousands of opportunities to get your content before local car shoppers’ eyes.

You’ll also want to share, share, share. Every bit of your online content needs to find its way onto your social media accounts.

Written by experts

This isn’t a journey you should take on your own. You wouldn’t let your oil-change guys go out and sell on the floor—yet time and again dealerships go to market with home-grown content that isn’t as good as it could be. Work with a professional writer or videographer to get your content right.

Content promotion is important, you’ll find your efforts are most effective when you partner with a professional automotive digital marketing firm. For example, TRFFK.ca offers a full-service digital marketing service specifically geared for the automotive industry.

What’s the takeaway?

Content can draw customers in, show your personality and ultimately help you sell cars.

Your content strategy should include social media and targeted digital marketing campaigns. And remember—sometimes it makes sense to engage an expert.

Finally, if you remember only one thing, it’s this: you need to treat every piece of online content or web copy as advertising.

It has one purpose—get a click, a call, or another step down the sales funnel.